What hinge for an overlay cupboard door?

[Lennock]

I am building an internal laundry under my stairs using a 70mm x 45mm framing pine, and 18mm MDF paneling. I will put sound reduction paneling within the walls. It will be a vertical laundry (dryer above the washing machine with a sliding shelf in between). Will have a single door overlaying the frame and another door on the other side - the structure will look similar to the picture below. I will also put Spec rite Oak acoustic timber panels on the front of the doors and the frame. My problem is that the doors will now be 40mm deep (21mm acoustic panel on top of 18mm MDF) and I don’t know what hinge would be most appropriate. Can you advise? I expect the hinge to sit on the inside of the left hand beam.

[EricL]

Hello @Lennock 

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's sensational to have you join us, and thanks for sharing your question about your cupboard project. 

In order to make the assembly easy, I propose having the door over the frame, this will allow you to use an  Austyle 100 x 47 x 2.5mm 304 Stainless Steel Fast Fix Non-Mortise Flush Hinge. The door can be covered with SpecRite 2700 x 600 x 21mm Oak Timber Acoustic Panel and not have to worry about door clearances. My best advice is to build a mock-up of the door assembly so that you can clearly see how the door will swing and if any of the edges will be hitting the body of the cabinet.

Let me call on our experienced members @Dave-1, @Nailbag and @JoeAzza for their recommendations. 

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

[Dave-1]

Good Afternoon @Lennock 

The hinges and fixing method that @EricL has suggested sound good, They will also be able to carry the load of the door plus the acostic paneling. I would suggest three of the hinges per door. 

Have you factored in a vent at the top of the cabinetry so warm air left over from use can exit the unit?

With your height of washing machine that you are going from it may be a good idea to allow for a differeant models sizing, lots of times I have seen projects where the original cabinetry ha sbeen purpose built for the washing machine and then when it dies, trying to get a similar sized unit to fit can be a pain.

Dave

[Nailbag]

Hi @Lennock 

The issue you will have is door I assume needs to swing outwards, which means the hinge pins also need to be on the external side. But there is no structural strength in the acoustic timber to fix them to. You would need to glue and screw to one side and full height some like 18mm x 42mm DAR pine. Then butt the panel to this. Then use  3 x 100mm fixed pin HD hinges.

If you haven't already, but have you consider some form of ventilation as there will be quite a lot of heat generated within the space when the machines are running. And the dryer will need to be flued.

Nailbag

[Lennock]

Hi @EricL , @Dave-1, @Nailbag,

Thanks for the advice and the quick response. I am good with those hinges. To answer some of the items you have raised:

We’re currently in the process of picking a new washer and dryer, so I will build the cabinet to that width, with an extra 2.5cm either side and top for ventilation. There is also likely to be a good 10-15cm at the back of the cabinet. Note the dryer will be a Heat pump type dryer that extracts the water and feeds it into the waste water pipe, so its just the heat from using the appliances rather than dryer actually pumping out hot air. I am reluctant to vent into the main room as this will likely negate the impact of the sound proofing I will put in. However, I had planned to put a hinged access panel at the back cupboard wall (centre yellow beam in photo) so I could access the taps/power points from the cupboard (right hand side of the cabinet) when the appliance are fitted. I could turn this into a louvered vent rather than a door. Would this be sufficient for ventilation purposes? i.e. venting into the cupboard on the right hand side?

Many thanks in advance

Mark

[MitchellMc]

Hi Mark (@Lennock), 

Great to hear you’re going with a heat pump dryer – that’s a smart choice for an enclosed space like this. Heat pump dryers are far more efficient and don’t release large amounts of hot, moist air into the room like traditional vented dryers. Instead, they recycle the warm air internally and condense the moisture into water, which is why they can often be installed in tighter or less ventilated areas.

That said, they still generate some residual warmth, so a little passive ventilation is always a good idea to prevent heat build-up inside the cabinet. Turning your rear access panel into a louvred vent sounds like an excellent solution – it’ll allow warm air to dissipate into the adjacent cupboard while maintaining your soundproofing efforts. Just keep an eye on it for any signs of moisture buildup on the walls or signs of mould. If this does occur, you'll need to consider venting to the room or outside.

Ensure the dryer has the clearances recommended in the manufacturer’s installation guide (usually a few centimetres around the sides and back) to ensure optimal performance and longevity.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

[Lennock]

Hi @MitchellMc @EricL , @Dave-1, @Nailbag, 

Thanks for all your advice. One more question on hinges – above the washing machine/dryer space on the left hand side, there will be a cabinet to store washing power, detergent, etc. (In the photo, this is the small area with yellow beams on the top and both sides but not the bottom). Again, this will be 18mm MDF with 21mm acoustic panel on top (on both the door and the panel above) and I have the same hinge dilemma.

I would like these cabinets to open upwards – which means putting the hinges on the top of the door. But I am again concerned about the clearance required for an essentially 40mm thick cupboard door opening upwards and getting jammed against the acoustic panels above it. Are there any types of hinges that bring the door out and open, so it clears the acoustic panel? Another consideration is as this cupboard will open vertically, I probably need a stay-open hinge to ensure it stays open until manually closed. Once again, your advice is greatly appreciated.

Kind regards

Mark

[EricL]

Hello @Lennock 

One hinge that comes to mind is the Hafele 165° Full Overlay Clip On Hinge - 1 Pair. However, it will be necessary to try out some test fittings as it will be difficult to tell how much clearance should be provided at the top. Why not just have it open from the side like the doors at the bottom? It would be so much easier, and you will not have to worry about holding the door up while its open. 

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric